“You see what he is. All his nature, all his sayings, all his doings argue comfort. Not comfort for the impenitent and the independent, and for those who think they have no need; but for all who wish to be humble, and in want, and to be supplied from a source outside themselves.”

Without a doubt, the most impactful book I read last year was A Book of Comfort for Those in Sickness. I’m sure its significance was partly due to some medical struggles I’ve been having recently, but also simply because life is full of difficulties. We all go through difficult times in these difficult lives in this broken world, and a book like this one delivers comfort rooted in the Comforter. I’ve collected some of my favorite quotes from the book, hoping they comfort you and perhaps compel you to read the book yourself or hand it to someone who could benefit from it.

“God will not send trial without the intention of blessing; therefore, where the trial is great, we may be sure that the blessing intended is great also.”

“Crushed corn makes bread, trodden grapes make wine, pressed olives yield oil, the frankincense that feels the fire, floats upwards in perfumed wreaths toward the sky. The corn of wheat abiding alone is not fruitful; it is when it dies that it enters into the harvest ranks; the branch that bears fruit is pruned that it may bring forth more fruit. So then sick man or woman, do not mope and be down-cast; consider yourself not to be useless.”

“Very often, we have to hunt for our blessings to find them. They are none the worse for that; unless the violet be the worse for having to be looked for amid the leaves. In sickness, little mercies are as sweet and as really great to you, as very great things are to other people in health.”

“The waters of comfort cannot run up the hills of pride; they fall down into the valleys of humility.”

“Your trial cannot be longer than the lasting power of God’s faithfulness, and mercy, and patience, and power. He will be true to you all through it. His patience will not be exhausted, his power will not come short. You will never be left without God. He will be all your tomorrows, even as he is in your today, and has been in all your yesterdays.”

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